Nobody told us we couldn’t

Published: Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, December 15, 2012 at 11:28 p.m.

Terrebonne and Lafourche residents witnessed two milestones last week that might seem unrelated but are bound by a common thread.

Terrebonne voters overwhelmingly approved a half-cent sales tax Dec. 8 that will provide $330 million to complete a levee system that will protect the parish, along with parts of Lafourche, against flooding from Gulf storms.

Two days later, officials announced a partnership that will save Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center, the state charity hospital in Houma that serves thousands of the area’s poor and uninsured, from severe budget cuts and layoffs that threatened to cripple or close it.

The ties that bind these two achievements occurred to me as I stood amid dozens of employees, patients and public officials who packed the hospital’s lobby for Monday’s announcement.

In an emotional speech, state Sen. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, son of the hospital’s namesake, discussed what the medical center means to the area’s neediest residents. He recalled the uphill battles fought to open the hospital in 1978 and to keep it viable ever since.

“Since day one, this hospital has had to fight for its existence,” Chabert said. “It’s an example of how we help ourselves down here because without immediate intervention, had these parish governments not stood up, we would not be here today.”

He was referring to the contribution of local tax money parish governments will make — $1 million was approved by the Lafourche Council last week, and another $2 million is expected to come Wednesday from the Terrebonne Council. Sure, that local money could have been spent on other priorities.

But it says a lot about this community when residents and the government officials they elect to represent them are willing to do more than complain and ask for handouts. They put their hard-earned money to work to solve problems in a way that benefits the entire community.

It’s the same impetus behind not only the levee tax that passed Dec. 8, but the construction of the entire Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane-protection system. Congress and the Army Corps of Engineers have dragged their feet for nearly two decades on plans to build a massive levee system that originally was intended to protect Terrebonne and parts of Lafourche from up to a Category 3 hurricane. In the meantime, locals have been swamped by several hurricanes, some of which barely brushed the coast.

Fed up with federal delays, the Terrebonne Levee Board set out on its own to build an interim levee system designed to provide at least some protection against the glancing blows that have flooded the area over the past decade.

Terrebonne residents stepped up not once but twice, enacting a quarter-cent sales tax in 2001 and the latest half-cent sales tax that, along with state contributions, will complete the interim levee system within the next three or four years.

I have not always been a cheerleader for Morganza, but it’s the only immediate option we have. And regardless of how you feel about the solutions to either of these two issues — health care or levee protection — you have to admire the gumption of everyone involved.

The impetus behind these two efforts, like so many of the best things that happen around here, stems from a trait deeply rooted in our local culture. It is the can-do attitude local entrepreneurs harnessed to build massive oilfield-construction and shipbuilding businesses from humble beginnings as shrimpers and oilfield laborers. It is the can-do attitude local boat captains took with them when they pioneered the treacherous North Sea oilfield and other parts of the world where few would dare to navigate.

My classmates in Leadership Louisiana, a program designed to build a network of residents who care about the state and want to make it better, marveled at what locals have built as we rode a bus down La. 1 earlier this year for a tour of Port Fourchon.

What possessed people to build such massive ships, platforms and the port itself down here in the middle of the marsh, one of my north Louisiana classmates asked.

Nobody told us we couldn’t, one of our local guides answered.

A kernel of truth resides within that half-joking remark. Of course, we live here, so we already know that.

Courier and Daily Comet Executive Editor Keith Magill can be reached at 857-2201 or keith.magill@houmatoday.com.

<p>Terrebonne and Lafourche residents witnessed two milestones last week that might seem unrelated but are bound by a common thread.</p><p>Terrebonne voters overwhelmingly approved a half-cent sales tax Dec. 8 that will provide $330 million to complete a levee system that will protect the parish, along with parts of Lafourche, against flooding from Gulf storms.</p><p>Two days later, officials announced a partnership that will save Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center, the state charity hospital in Houma that serves thousands of the area's poor and uninsured, from severe budget cuts and layoffs that threatened to cripple or close it.</p><p>The ties that bind these two achievements occurred to me as I stood amid dozens of employees, patients and public officials who packed the hospital's lobby for Monday's announcement.</p><p>In an emotional speech, state Sen. Norby Chabert, R-Houma, son of the hospital's namesake, discussed what the medical center means to the area's neediest residents. He recalled the uphill battles fought to open the hospital in 1978 and to keep it viable ever since.</p><p>“Since day one, this hospital has had to fight for its existence,” Chabert said. “It's an example of how we help ourselves down here because without immediate intervention, had these parish governments not stood up, we would not be here today.”</p><p>He was referring to the contribution of local tax money parish governments will make — $1 million was approved by the Lafourche Council last week, and another $2 million is expected to come Wednesday from the Terrebonne Council. Sure, that local money could have been spent on other priorities.</p><p>But it says a lot about this community when residents and the government officials they elect to represent them are willing to do more than complain and ask for handouts. They put their hard-earned money to work to solve problems in a way that benefits the entire community.</p><p>It's the same impetus behind not only the levee tax that passed Dec. 8, but the construction of the entire Morganza-to-the-Gulf hurricane-protection system. Congress and the Army Corps of Engineers have dragged their feet for nearly two decades on plans to build a massive levee system that originally was intended to protect Terrebonne and parts of Lafourche from up to a Category 3 hurricane. In the meantime, locals have been swamped by several hurricanes, some of which barely brushed the coast.</p><p>Fed up with federal delays, the Terrebonne Levee Board set out on its own to build an interim levee system designed to provide at least some protection against the glancing blows that have flooded the area over the past decade.</p><p>Terrebonne residents stepped up not once but twice, enacting a quarter-cent sales tax in 2001 and the latest half-cent sales tax that, along with state contributions, will complete the interim levee system within the next three or four years.</p><p>I have not always been a cheerleader for Morganza, but it's the only immediate option we have. And regardless of how you feel about the solutions to either of these two issues — health care or levee protection — you have to admire the gumption of everyone involved.</p><p>The impetus behind these two efforts, like so many of the best things that happen around here, stems from a trait deeply rooted in our local culture. It is the can-do attitude local entrepreneurs harnessed to build massive oilfield-construction and shipbuilding businesses from humble beginnings as shrimpers and oilfield laborers. It is the can-do attitude local boat captains took with them when they pioneered the treacherous North Sea oilfield and other parts of the world where few would dare to navigate.</p><p>My classmates in Leadership Louisiana, a program designed to build a network of residents who care about the state and want to make it better, marveled at what locals have built as we rode a bus down La. 1 earlier this year for a tour of Port Fourchon.</p><p>What possessed people to build such massive ships, platforms and the port itself down here in the middle of the marsh, one of my north Louisiana classmates asked.</p><p>Nobody told us we couldn't, one of our local guides answered.</p><p>A kernel of truth resides within that half-joking remark. Of course, we live here, so we already know that.</p><p>Courier and Daily Comet Executive Editor Keith Magill can be reached at 857-2201 or keith.magill@houmatoday.com.</p>